Met`ro*pol"i*tan (?; 277), a. [L. metropolitanus: cf. F. métropolitain.]

1. Of or pertaining to the capital or principal city of a country; as, metropolitan luxury.

2. (Eccl.) Of, pertaining to, or designating, a metropolitan or the presiding bishop of a country or province, his office, or his dignity; as, metropolitan authority. "Bishops metropolitan." Sir T. More.

Met`ro*pol"i*tan, n. [LL. metropolitanus.] 1. The superior or presiding bishop of a country or province.

2. (Lat. Church.) An archbishop.

3. (Gr. Church) A bishop whose see is a civil metropolis. His rank is intermediate between that of an archbishop and a patriarch. Hook.

• urban
  
• In Eastern Orthodoxy, a bishop empowered to oversee other bishops, an archbishop. Their demesne is an Archeparchy.
  
• the inhabitant of a metropolis